I use the word “might,” because manager Walt Weiss clearly saw Martin’s performance as an enormous part of the Rockies’ 5-4 victory over the Diamondbacks Tuesday night.

When Chatwood left the game in the sixth inning because of his injury, Martin inherited a no-out, bases-loaded mess. Martin did a spotless job cleaning it up. He got Chris Owings to ground out to third baseman Nolan Arenado, who threw to the plate for the force out. Then Martin struck out pinch-hitter Roger Kieschnick and induced Tony Campana to hit a chopper to first.

“I was already warm when they took Chatty out so I was ready to go,” Martin said. “I came in looking to get a groundball out and the first out to (Owens) worked out exactly like I wanted.”

Said Weiss: “He came into a tough spot … but he was fantastic. It doesn’t get any tougher than that, with the bases loaded and nobody out. But he came in with hard and heavy sink and he did a hell of a job.”